Deliveroo employees picketed the company’s recruitment office for another day of strikes on Monday to demand a living wage. The company is getting rid of its £7 hourly rate with £1 per delivery and replacing it with just £3.75 per delivery. A great deal of ink has already been spilled about the precarious conditions of the gig economy. We are also familiar with the increasing Uberisation of the market place by the appearance of a seemingly autonomous workforce whose strings are really held by startup executives, more concerned with the brand value of their phone application than they are with their employees’ welfare.

Among these high-pitch stories about cutting edge economic phenomenon, old stories often get left out and discarded. Behind the latest fanciful terminology of the digital economy there lies a story as old as time, and that is the exploitation of black and brown people’s labour. It is important for the leadership of the strike action to realise that black and brown people are often at a greater risk than they are. While it is commendable of them to take initiative in organising the strikes they must also be aware that their prominence is mainly due to the fact that English is their native language. A movement that has set out to establish fair working conditions has to take into account that factors like ethnic background and age can make a world of difference. As seen on Mangal Media’s video report, this difference can be as obvious as a middle aged Asian employee who says “at least we were getting to pay our bills,” whilst standing next to a young disapproving white man (his organiser) who declares: “I would rather be doing this than working behind a desk in an office.” For Deliveroo’s black and brown-skinned employees, getting stuck with a desk job may be the least of their worries. Deliveroo employee, community organiser and author of the book “We are not Latino,” Nemequene Tundama begs to differ about the desirability of working for Deliveroo: 

Many of the riders depend on their wages to support their families here and their families back home. It’s not a “fun” job to ride around in such a dangerous and physically demanding job. But Deliveroo advertise it as a laid back job. The busiest areas are in the City and therefore, if people are to make “good” money, they have to travel from far out on their bikes which is really tiring. Deliveroo and Uber both recruit young people, especially young inner-city kids (usually Black and Brown between 16 and 19), and say that it’s a great way for them to earn some money for doing something they like to do anyway. This is ridiculously inaccurate as riding the busy streets where the restaurants are based is extremely dangerous for inexperienced bike or moped riders. I’ve also witnessed young and old riders take dangerous risks in order to make quick drops and earn more money. 

Nemenquene also points out the difference in language skills and the pressures of being an immigrant makes when it comes to participating in labour resistance:

The couriers most at risk of exploitation and maltreatment are those who are immigrants and those whose English is their second language - because of this, they are also less likely to join a trade union to protect themselves from workplace bullying etc. They also do not have the same kind of time and are therefore less likely to go to branch meetings organised by the trade union.

The Deliveroo strike is of critical importance in the global struggle against the injustices of the corporate economy. This strike effort is not just against an unprecedented economic system, it is also a brand new opportunity for realising the possibility of inter ethnic solidarity. A meaningful kind of solidarity which prioritises the urgent needs of those who have mouths to feed, against the gratification of those who want to avoid boring old office jobs.